Chelsea McMillen’s Persuasive Speech Outline

General Purpose: To persuade my audience

Specific Purpose: To persuade my audience into being in favor of distributing contraceptives (condoms, birth control pills, spermicides, etc.) in high schools.

Thesis statement: In order to explain why contraceptives are becoming such a necessity in schools today, I will share how teen parenthood is being glorified, reasons for such an increase in teenage pregnancies, and how effective distributing contraceptives would be.

INTRODUCTION

I. Attention getter: (show slide of pregnant girls) How many of you have ever seen television shows like “16 and Pregnant”, “Teen Mom”, or “The Secret Life of an American Teenager”?

II. …show more content…

This was the conclusion of a study reported in the January 2008 issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health. Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention examined data from 2,019 single youths, ages 15 to 19, collected by the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth. Sex education reduced by two-thirds the percentage of boys who had intercourse before age 15 and by more than half the percentage of girls who had done so. Male teens who have attended or had graduated high school were 2.77 times more likely to use birth control the first time they had intercourse if they had received sex education. Sex education was not linked to contraceptive use in female teens but proved predominantly important for at-risk subgroups, such as female African Americans. “Sex education provides youth[s] with the knowledge and skill to make healthy and informed decisions about sex,” the authors write. The study did not differentiate between sex education programs that teach contraception and those that teach abstinence; the researchers urge further studies to sort that out.

Transition: Finally, I have explained…

CONCLUSION

I. Restate thesis: why contraceptives are becoming such a necessity in schools today, I have shared how teen parenthood is being glorified, reasons for such an increase in teenage pregnancies,